A seemingly connected but actually misguided effort to burglarize a Lafayette home in the wee small hours Saturday frightened an unintended set of victims and touched off a wild chase out Highway 24 and into San Francisco, where police arrested one suspect after the car he was driving spun out and crashed.
The tale, with several built-in twists, started at 2:37 a.m. Saturday when residents in the 3700 block of Rose Court were awakened by movement in their home and summoned police.
Officers responding to the targeted home were updated via radio that the homeowner’s car was now backing out of her driveway. Police spotted the car driving from the neighborhood, occupied by a lone black male. That car, officers could see, was followed by a second vehicle, also occupied by a single black male driver.
Lafayette police began a pursuit of the stolen vehicle and were quickly joined by Orinda police, with California Highway Patrol officers taking over the chase as the two cars sped into San
Francisco. Chief Eric Christensen said the most recently stolen vehicle crashed in the city – totaling it. The driver, identified as Sir Casey Latour, 30, of San Francisco, was taken into custody.
Police said Latour’s alleged accomplice managed to elude police. Latour, however, was transported back to Contra Costa County, cleared medically and booked at the Martinez Detention Facility.
Investigators said that the burglary plot was conceived after a former resident of Lafayette lost his wallet and car during a robbery in San Francisco early Saturday morning. The suspects drove the vehicle to Lafayette to burglarize the home at the address listed on his drivers’ license, only to learn that the robbery victim they come to victimize twice had only briefly lived at the Lafayette address and had since moved out.
Police said the suspects arrived at the Lafayette house and found a door to the home unlocked. One or both men entered the home while the residents were asleep, taking property including a set of car keys and then drove off in the victim’s vehicle when they were spotted by responding units.
San Francisco police travelled to Lafayette and Martinez Saturday to speak with Latour about the day’s events, particularly his alleged involvement in the San Francisco robbery.
Latour remains in custody at the Main Detention Facility in Martinez, booked on Burglary, Vehicle Theft, Evading law enforcement officer and possession of stolen property charges.
Is the Caldecott tunnel equipped with cameras for this kind of escape chase? Some hi-res pictures of the vehicle and its occupants would be useful.
… and DOT could sell the tapes for use in episodes of “Cops…”
Where was this??
Damn!
Sir Casey Latour? Those Royals really get around….
Frightening!
Should we assume that Sir Casey is no stranger to this sort of thing and has done it before? When he’s not riding to hounds that is?
Is this a true story?
We should have photos in a little while. We’ve been on it since 2:30 A.M. Saturday morning, when it happened…
So they take a mans id and car in sf and drive the two cars to what they think is his address in Lafayette to rob him there only it’s not his house any more and they rob someone else in the process, stealing their stuff and wrecking their car in the process. Do I have this right?
Amazing that these people can move so quickly. Hope they catch the other man.
Picture of Sir Curtis or whatever his name is????
We do not have a photo of the suspect.
Do you know the name of the person robbed in the city???
Hi, Nicky… we do not. As the person was a victim in this case we would not normally give it…
Did they use gps to find the address of the house in Lafayette? How soon after the robbery in SF did the guys show uup in Lafayette??
Morning, Maria… we’re not sure of the exact timing but we believe not much time passed from the time the robbery took place in the city to the time of the cat or “hot prowl” burglary in Lafayette. Usually they have the person’s keys or garage door opener to make access to their home. We’re told they found an unlocked door on Rose Court and made entry that way…
there are photos of me passing through a toll plaza and using the I-680 commuter lane. why are there no photos of me passing through the Caldecott tunnel? I posed this as a serious question. Of course, the State of Ca is not going to sell this information. I was hoping for a serious answer. I am disappointed and surprised to receive none.
Morning, David… we weren’t sure if your question was directed at us or at DOT officials. We’ll assume it was us and say that while we know the Caldecott is under video surveillance to facilitate maintenance and issues with traffic flow we have not heard of any still photos or video captures used in connection with an investigation into cars making their way through the bores. Although it has been improved in the tunnels since their retrofit, we think lighting may still be an issue relative to any photos/video.
I think they should have a big iron gate that drops down in each of those bores when these things happen. One at each end…. then they can turn on the flamethrowers and barbecue these creeps.
I would be willing to bet police knew what they were dealing with pretty soon after they started the chase. That’s what radios are for. Lamorinda has been busy lately and police appear to be doing a good jjob keeping up with the crooks but it definitely seems the area is on their “To Rob” list. Any word on the Moraga robbery?
How frighteningly random.
Reading in from vacation and very sorry to hear about this. Glad no one was hurt.
Lock your doors. Seems like a common sense thing to do.
What are photos and or video going to do? Caesar is releasing drug felons and wide-open borders for illegals and Moonbeam grants drivers licenses to the illegals. What do you think you’re going to get? Dan Gephardt had the only common sense idea. And maybe lock your doors per Tom Blair. Purchase a legal gun and learn to shoot for home protection. Don’t become another Amanda Blackburn! Kudos to News 24/680 by actually saying it was a black male vs. just a male!
As crazy as it might sound I have to think that a couple of strategiaclally positioned anti car bomb barriers in the tunnels might be a good idea. They raise automaticly and could be used at times like this when traffic is light and the bad guys are running for Oakland. Raise them automatically and stop anyone racing through the bore.
I wish there was a way to stop people from coming through the tunnel, but there isn’t. Lamorinda is your first “nice stop” outside the tunnel, and everybody knows it. Unfortunately, it’s getting worse. Do everything you can (including locking your doors) to take away the opportunity from the criminals.
Tim has an interesting idea. Out of box thinking might generate something to help. My own day dreaming generated the idea of some kind of electronic harpoon with a tracking device that the police car could shoot and attach itself to the fleeing car. That way they don’t have to chase them at 100 mph. Clearly I like science fiction. The’d probably miss and harpoon a UPS truck. But it just seems ridiculous that we have the same method to chase the bad guys as if we were living in a 1970s Smokey and the Bandit movie.
I had a similar idea to Nap Solo, but with a gps in a blob that would stick to the car. Hard to hit a car at that speed, but a helicopter (or a drone) might be able to wait for it at the exit and “paint ball” it from above with a gps blob. Tim’s idea of closing the tunnel also sounds plausible. Though you would need lots of warning “STOP Tunnel CLOSED” flashing lights prior to the dead end…and lots of money to install.
Maybe they can put some of the GGB suicide netting to good use there…You know, a dragnet.
I know some of these ideas are submitted in jest — or at least I THINK they are — but given the number of chases law enforcement has out 24 through the tunnel I have to wonder if a set of tire spikes like they have at the parking lots wouldn’t be more practical. Police notify their radio people they are in a chase and they call the person at the Caldecott to raise the spikes or officers have the device in their cars. It would be better than having them flying across the highway and crashing in the city.